Grease

Movie review by Kate Pluta, Common Sense Media
Grease Movie Poster: Sandy and Danny stand cheek to cheek

Common Sense says

age 11+

Musical hit is still great fun but quite racy, has sexism.

PG 1978 110 minutes

Parents say

age 12+

Based on 56 reviews

Kids say

age 11+

Based on 234 reviews

A Lot or a Little?

The parents' guide to what's in this movie.

Community Reviews

age 11+

Most adult jokes will go over kids heads anyway

IS there some adult humor in this? Sure. Plenty of it. But most will go over young kids' heads. Those the get the joke are already hearing that stuff, and likely SAYING that stuff already. I hate to break it to parents, but it's true. Your 12 year old is almost definitely already talking about the things sung about in Greased Lightning. But the good news is that they are still going to turn out just fine. One thing I find a little disturbing about many reviews is there is plenty of talk about Sandy changing (totally on her own), but not one is upset that she then DEMANDS (in song) that Danny "better shape up" and change for her? (Which is something Danny had been doing the entire movie..changing for her.) Sort of a double standard, saying that it is OK for a woman to demand a man change for her, but not OK to depict a girl who is very old fashioned to want to modernize when she enters a new culture? Bottom line..let's your kids enjoy the music. This movie is not going to give them any sort of sexual deficiencies. Nor will seeing people smoking make them start. If they ask, simply tell them that smoking was MUCH more common, both i the 70s when the movie was made, but especially in the 50s when it was set. But now that we know more about the risks of smoking, it is thankfully decreasing in popularity.
6 people found this helpful.
age 14+

Drinking, sex, pregnancy - but 1977's version

I hadn't watched this in years. I saw that parents rated it age 11 so I agreed to watch with my 11 year old daughter. I had forgotten many scenes that were awkward but I guess served to have discussions. For example, the scene where Russo is making out with the guy and he pulls out the broken condom. You can't see it, but my daughter wanted to know what it was. There were also many references to the women "putting out" and several other sexual innuendos. I loved the movie originally because it is a musical but I wish I had refreshed my memory on all of these details!

This title has:

Too much sex
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
4 people found this helpful.

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